Too Soon
by Grinder-Lector
Summary: Steve catches a fever. And not just any fever. STEAM POWERED GIRAFFE
"Steve….Steve…STEVE!"

Steve blinked, shaking his head as he shook himself out of the trance. He was looking straight forward at the stage. There stood the three automatons; Rabbit, The Spine and Hatchworth. They were looking in his direction. They all wore the same confused expressions.

"Uh, Steve," The Spine's voice sounded in his head phones. He had connected the robots Wi-Fi to his headset in order to listen to their thoughts if needed, "We just finished the intro to Ghost Grinder."

Steve quickly started up the rest of the song from his mixing desk and allowed the automatons to continue on. He leaned back as he watched them.

What brought his trance on was weird. Really weird. He had watched a fog creep onto the stage as Rabbit's haunting voice started the song. He hadn't activated any of the smoke machines which was weirder. He sat thinking about what could've been happening. That's when the Spine had woken him.

Everything was fine up until the first chorus. He blinked. And there was no one in the audience. They were all gone. What was even weirder was the fact he could hear the singing, but the automatons were just staring at him. They weren't blinking or singing. Just staring.

The engineer rubbed his eyes and looked back to the stage. Everything was normal again.

"What the f- -" he coughed. He covered his mouth as he choked a few times. He felt a lump develop in his thoat. He continued to cover his mouth as he looked around once again. He needed to get out and get some water. As he scanned the room for the door, he noted a child in the crowd.

The young boy slowly turned his head to look around at the engineer. He was pale and looked as if he hadn't eaten in months. The child blinked. His eyes turned pitch black.

Steve looked away immediately as he felt the need to be sick. He looked back to the stage to see how the band was doing. Rabbit continued to sing but looked at the engineer with concern. She blinked and just like the little boy's, her eyes turned black and she wore a twisted smile.

Steve looked away from the stage. He turned around and emptied the contents of his stomach in a trash can beside him. He felt beads of sweat drip down his forehead. As he finished being sick, he wiped his mouth. But was surprised to see blood covering his hand.

The music around him seemed to be getting louder and his vision became cloudy.

"Steve. What's going on?" The Spine's voice sounded in the headphones.

"Steve are you alright?" Hatchworth's voice spoke next.

Steve couldn't stand up. Instead he felt his body go completely numb causing him to hit the ground. His vision got darker and darker as he shut his eyes.

Steve slowly opened his eyes. Upon opening them he realised he was not in the concert hall anymore. Instead he was laying on a hospital bed and was hooked up to machines. He looked around and saw the three automatons watching him in awe.

"I'll go get the doctor!" Rabbit stood up from her seat and rushed out.

"Guys," he croaked. His throat hurt, "What's going on?"

Rabbit returned. A doctor entered the room also. He sighed with relief looking at the engineer, "It's a miracle. There was a slight chance you wouldn't wake up. After all it has been weeks."

Steve's eyes widened. He looked at the automatons. Hatchworth nodded as if he was clarifying what the doctor said. Rabbit let an oily tear fall down her cheek.

"What's wrong with me?" Steve asked with worry.

"You have a high rate fever that has being going around. You may take hot flushes, be sick very often. Sometimes you will throw up blood. Other times not. You may experience hallucinations. That's the fever."

Steve thought back to the show. He was seeing weird things, "How did I get the fever?"

"It's very contagious. Germs would probably be the best answer."

"And will it kill me?"

The automatons snapped their heads to look at the doctor. He remained silent for a while as he bit his lip.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Negrete."

The doctor continued to talk but Steve heard nothing. He was going to die. It was his time.

The Spine had removed his hat as Rabbit began to cry and Hatchworth comforted her.

It felt as if the doctor had been talking for hours. Steve looked away as he felt something tap his bicep. He looked away from the doctor to see Lil Steve.

"How's it going, Pop?" The doll spoke putting his stubby arms on his woolen hips.

"Lil Steve," he began, "I just found out I'm about to die. This doctor just told me."

"Man, that was hours ago! You've just been sitting here staring off into the distance." Lil Steve replied.

Steve looked up. He was right. The Doctor was gone and the room was dark.  
"You were just hallucinating again. He wasn't there the whole time. Also, you're hallucinating now. I'm not really talking to you," the doll informed him.

"I'm not ready to go," Steve admitted, "Not yet. I'm afraid."

The doll just looked at the engineer. He shook his head after a moment of silence, "I'm sorry, Pops. But we all gotta go someday."

"No-No-No," Steve's voice cracked as his eyes teared up, "It's not fair. I haven't lived my life yet!"

The doll looked at him in a moment of silence.

"OK maybe I have had a good life."

"A good life?" Lil Steve repeated, "You've travelled all across the country with three automatons. You've repaired them and have watched over them. I think you've done a good job and have had a good life."

Steve felt a tear roll down his cheek.

"Oh, Pops. Don't cry!" The doll cuddled him, burying his tiny face into his chest.  
Steve used his hand to cuddle the small doll.

"I just don't wanna go yet," Steve choked, "But I guess there is nothing we can do."

Lil Steve looked hopeless as his Pop's cried.

"There is nothing we can do," Steve repeated.

He expected a reply. He never got one. He looked at the doll to see it laying in his lap lifeless. He rememebered it was just a hallucination. He picked up the doll.

"Just stay with me, lil buddy." He cried cuddling the doll, "I'm not gonna die alone.


End file.
